Key Accelerator for SAP’s Growth Aspirations

When consumers want to buy music or a new app for their iPads or smartphones, they typically go online to the iTunes or Google Play stores, if they want to watch a classic movie they stream it from Netflix, and if they need a new book to read they can download it instantly in digital form from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

In our increasingly digital world, consumers want instant access to digital content and they won’t accept delays, complex keystroke sequences or purchasing procedures. They need to be able to buy it online using a credit card or PayPal account, and to download it with a single mouse click.

SAP Crystal Reports: One of the apps available in SAP Store

Now consumers are demanding the same simplicity, flexibility and freedom of digital consumption while they are at work – a trend dubbed the ‘consumerization of enterprise IT.’

SAP has jumped into the vanguard of this trend forming a new business unit called SAP Digital and online digital store (SAP Store) offering about 100 SAP and third-party business apps to individuals who can pay with a credit card or PayPal.

The SAP Store will target Small Office Home Office (SOHO) business owners, individual salespeople, team managers and supporting HR managers, business analysts, and developers.

Bring the power of SAP technology to individuals

By creating a digital business unit, SAP is hoping to tap into the large emerging market for individual access to business applications on demand. McKinsey, the management consultancy, estimates that businesses that embrace digital transformations could increase revenue by as much as 30 percent.

“For 43 years SAP has helped organizations around the world become best-run. Now our digital business will bring the power of SAP technology to individuals, using the same simple approaches they know in their personal lives,” said Bill McDermott, CEO. “This is a key accelerator for SAP’s growth aspirations as the SAP Digital organization will create new revenue through new offerings that appeal to a new, individual buyer.

Jonathan Becher, SAP’s Chief Digital Officer, believes SAP Digital has the potential to be a significant growth driver for SAP and will help the company expand both its reach and scale.

Some of the apps that are now available for purchase in the SAP Store are new ‘digitally native’ apps, designed from the ground-up for personal consumption and have distinct features such as offering in-application purchases, simple pricing structure, and configuration in minutes not hours or days.

These apps, including SAP Digital for Customer Engagement – a simplified cloud customer relationship management (CRM) app launched this week – are designed to meet the needs of individuals and small teams.

Underscoring the affordability of these new digitally native apps, SAP Digital for Customer Engagement, comes with a free 30-day trial and can be purchased for $29 per user per month using PayPal or a credit card, without waiting for IT department approval, extended vendor presentations and complicated demos.